State Capture: Holomisa wants inquiry conducted before 2019 elections

Jan 3, 2018

South Africa is facing the real and present danger of political, economic, social and administrative collapse from unbridled corruption and state capture, says United Democratic Movement (UDM) President, Bantu Holomisa.

"President Jacob Zuma consistently appeals every court judgement where he is involved… the Nation might even give him a new nickname! He even seeks to appeal against the decision by Judge Dunstan Mlambo that Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng chooses the judge to head up the commission of inquiry into state capture. Why?" Holomisa describes.

"What is going on behind the curtains of the President’s continuous counter actions in the various courts? Why this dogged reaction and, we hear in this case, accusing the court of erring in law sixteen times? Why not just lance the boil and get it over and done with?

"Should this inquiry go ahead unhindered, and there is a forensic auditing component, might it be that some folks are fearing where the breadcrumbs might lead? The next question could therefore be: is there, maybe, a deal in the wind between the President Zuma and his party - or at least some individuals in the African National Congress (ANC), or maybe even a few cabinet ministers? Which leads to these inescapable questions: who (really) is being protected by whom, and why?"

He asked if President Zuma in fact acting as a lightning conductor to delay matters, "as far as he is able, to avoid an enormous scandal before 2019? Maybe there are too many individual hands in the proverbial cookie jar of the past ten years; or did Luthuli House itself benefit from state capture?"

"Not only does this inquiry potentially threaten political bigwigs, but one wonders which big businesses and/or business people might also have to come clean.

"If there is any truth (even just a wisp) in this line of thinking, it could be the ANC’s death knell just before a major election that stands to have the political course of South Africa - and the fortunes of some individuals - changed," Holomisa said.

He said that the UDM is therefore calling upon all South Africans to unite against corruption and state capture on the widest and most complete front, which includes assumptive political posturing.

"We call on you to turn to political leadership dedicated to the establishment and management of successful coalitions for the benefit of all and not in service of personal and party-political power and positioning.

"Let us exert pressure from every corner to have this inquiry take place long before 2019; the Nation requires the truth about the people who they’ve elected into power. If these leaders are innocent, they can stand proudly after being tested in the inquiry… but, if they are guilty, they must go to jail," Holomisa said.

"The UDM will continue to promote, and to build, and to support cohesive and sustainable coalitions where baasskap and bullying, and both personal and party self-interest are eliminated to empower governments for service delivery."

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